More Snow!

So the crazy lady at Starbucks says that we are going to get 18 inches of snow in the next 2 days, I think that might be an exaggeration, but it began to snow early this morning and has gotten heavier as the day progresses. When I went down to move my bike under an awning, I took this picture of the pretty tree outside my apartment window. In the last few weeks, I have watched the buds grow as if spring might actually be coming soon, but I don't think it is coming today.
The second picture is of the remaining ice bank from the December and early January snows. You cannot see the dirt that is covering the snow, but it is more black and gray than clear. These are scattered all over Cambridge and soon they will be pretty and white again, but you have to wonder when these will disappear for good.

A Field Trip to the Medical School

I know my posts are getting increasingly scarce. Between an extra class and the assignments coming at a higher frequency, there has been no honeymoon period this semester. Some pretty cool things are happening here - I just haven't had time to write about them. Mary, the program director for Mind, Brain and Education, has been great about letting us know what is going on around campus. When she offered to take anyone interested to see the skull of Phineas Gage at the Harvard Medical School, it was an offer I could not refuse.So much was due the next week, I almost did not go, but we had a lovely outing and the most impressive part was the magnitude and the beauty of the medical school. I know that Sam, Amy's young man, has many more privileges through the Law school than we do at the Ed school and I also know that the reason is that those people grow up to be president some day and to give money back to the institution while teachers have no money. However, you should see the medical school! It is even ritzier than the Law School. The buildings are made out of beautiful materials and I think there might be some ordinance against being silly within a 10 mile radius of the campus. Anyway, here is our group on our excursion to the medical school. It was impressive to see the extent of the damage (even with repair) to Mr. Gage's poor skull, but mostly we were all in awe of the majesty of the buildings!
The group in the picture: on the front row, the Chinese woman in the purple coat is a Mind, Brain professor from China who is studying here this year. She is in all of my classes. Standing next to her is her son. On the other side is a very confident young scholar from Singapore. She got her undergraduate degree in London, UK and then came here for her Master's degree. Marissa (sunglasses) just finished law school and entered our program this year. Jessica is a speech therapist - yes I have to have one of those in my life to function - from Washington. She sits behind me in most of my classes and is absolutely brilliant and delightful! Mary - on the end is our program director. The tall blonde in the back is Kitty who was at Duke the same time as Sam. She is in every one of my classes as well and is my research partner for one of my classes.

A Bridge Too Far

I was told by the person who pays my tuition that I should spend more time updating my blog and less time studying (no - I do not mean the US government who will be taking my salary for the next 2 years to pay this back). Because there is another man in my life expecting me to discuss his article first thing in the morning, I am going to take the easy way out and show you this video that was our entertainment in a class today. (In this class, a room of 20 people kept saying, "I am not sure what you are talking about." This made me feel better because I shared their concerns, but did not have to state them.)

Cooking with Amy

Amy made this divine salad from the smittenkitchen blog. Em, you should try it. By the way, you should notice our little scene of domesticity on our Ikea dishes and table. The salad pairs well with the 2009 Starbucks black iced tea, no classic.Amy preferred a full-bodied diet Dr. Pepper. This is formal dining for me! (Although you will notice the trusty highlighter not far away for after dining entertainment - or torture).

We're Back

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This is Beulah helping me with my exams. She was not happy until I pulled a chair as close to me as possible and covered it with a furry throw.

After working on exams from the end of December until the middle of January, I came back to Cambridge with a new philosophy: "Choose the easiest courses I can find, get the lovely degree from Harvard, and go back to the life that I had before this upheaval." Then I started shopping classes and of the eighteen classes that sounded interesting, I have finally narrowed the number down to 5.5 (one class only runs through March). So much for personal philosophies.

The classes I am taking - I think - are the following:
HT100 - Cognitive Neuroscience - the core class for our program continues from last semester
Adult Development and Learning - taught by Dr. Robert Kegan
Universal Design for Learning - Dr. David Rose (he was one of our professors from last semester)
Introduction to Education Neuroscience - Dr. Todd Rose (he was a teaching fellow when Amy was in the program and his wife is in some of my classes - small world)
The Science of Learning, Behavior and Health: Implications for Early Childhood Policy - taught by Dr. Jack Shonkoff (This is the man that many of you have heard me quote. He was a pediatrician for years until he decided that to truly affect the lives of young children living in poverty, one has to know the science and leverage the science in lobbying for money and change. He is the man on the panel when I came to visit last April who, when people continued to whine about all of the many class offerings and lack of time to take them, responded that we were experiencing the "agony of privilege."
Tools for Mind, Brain, Education: Investigating process and outcome in cognition literacy, language, and numeracy - taught by Joanna Christodoulou who works at MIT and who is taking us on a tour of the MRI facilities there tomorrow. I did not have the nerve to volunteer to have my brain scanned - most of you can imagine why!

When I got back to Boston, there were still frozen banks of snow along all of the streets and sidewalks. Today we got new snow and then sleet and then snow - now it is raining, but it is a kind of frozen rain.

This picture is taken in front of one of the ed school buildings facing the common where George Washington organized his troops which is especially interesting as Amy and I have been watching the HBO John Adams series.

This is Longfellow Hall. Isn't it beautiful?
Finally, this is the bench that Amy wants Meredith to make for her - we know you can do it for less than Anthropologie charges and it will be lovely!

I Love This!

Andy sent this to us last week. He says that this is the #1 Viral Video for 2008. I can think of no more appropriate time to enjoy this than now. Peace to all and let's all dance!

Click in the bottom right hand corner to see the video clearly.

A Dream Come True - for a while!

Those of you that know me, know that Lois Lowery's The Giver is one of my favorite chapter books ever..until her book The Willoughbys came out last spring. Actually, they are favorites in different categories. When we received a notice that Lois and Jack Cantos were coming to speak, I bought a couple of copies of their books, ignored all of my plans to get ahead with assignments,and hiked back across campus to hear these people whose writing I admire. My greatest regret is that I did not have my tattered copies of their books to autograph, but who knew?

The panel only had 20 minutes to talk. That was the most frustrating part of the evening - that and I was late so I had to sit in the back. (By the way, you cannot see much, but this is the lecture room for 2 of my classes.) This is Lois Lowery telling us an amazing story about Alan Say that I will try to duplicate, but there is not enough time or space to do justice to the story.

Lois is sitting down at the front of the room wearing the tan turtleneck. This is the brief version of her story. (Kristine - I have to tell you the whole story when I get home - you will love it!)
When she was little, Lois' Dad was stationed in the South Pacific. She lived with her mother and her siblings in Pennsylvania in her grandfather's house, so she really did not know her dad very well. When he came home on visits, she said that she was actually afraid of him. Once he achieved officer status, he brought his family to Japan where he was stationed. Lois says that she was extremely shy and lonely. Every day she would ride her green bike to the limits of the base where they were stationed and every day there was an equally shy young Japanese boy on the other side of the fence. They never spoke - they just watched each other. This went on for months until her family moved.
Lois was at the Newbury awards to receive hers for The Giver(how many of us can toss that into conversations?) during which they also present the Caldecott Awards. Lois was seated next to Alan Say who was there to receive his Caldecott. They began to chat, sharing personal histories. You can imagine the conversation:
Lois: "I lived in Japan for a while when I was young."
Alan: "I did too! Where did you live?"
Lois: " Name of the place"
Alan: "I lived there too. When were you there?"
Lois: "Dates" (Of course I do not remember the specifics)
You have probably already guessed that Alan was there as well. As they narrowed the location and times of their youth in Japan, Alan stopped and said, "Were you the girl on the green bicycle?"
HOW COOL IS THAT?
Now, Jack Cantos. If you have read the Joey Pigza books, he is Joey Pigza. He had us all in stitches which should not have been a surprise as I laughed so hard when I read about Joey putting his vomiting dog in the glove compartment in his book, Joey Pigza Looses Control. He vows that he based that character on a kid in his class, but, oh my goodness, he had some of the same behaviors.

What a great night....until I had to come back and work until 1:00 on a statistics report.